[connieflyer]

Wow, Mordy your start up routine sounds just like when I had a hot young lady (way long ago) over for drinks?  Took all the right steps to "enjoy" the music

 

[pctazhp]

@JazzVinyl. I know I should just keep out of this. But I'm a lawyer and I guess it is just not in my dna to shut-up when I should!!!
 
I have said many times that my own personal preference is to avoid external power. But there was a time when I was very tempted to order the Triad transformer, the 6 X 6BL7 adapter and a 3rd pair of 6BL7s. What stopped me was the intensity of your opposition to EL3Ns. That was totally at variance with my own experience with the EL3Ns, and I just didn't want to go to the expense and time to follow your recommendation of the 6 X 6BL7s as we seemed to be coming from such different places. And you personal attacks on @hypnos1 didn't help. None of us would be here were if not for him, and I think he (along with every other member of this thread) deserves respect.
 
I wish we could all just realize that each of us have different experiences with tubes and headphones, describe our own experiences and respect the experience of others.
 
There is one thing that bonds us all together - the Elise amp. We often like to describe ourselves as "the lucky ones" and indeed we are. I fear that our internal bickering may turn off others who visit this thread and decide that Elise is not for them. I think we do those people a disservice.
 
I'm sure I have been guilty of stirring the pot, and I'm going to try to avoid that in the future. I truly believe the most important people here are the visitors who are considering an Elise, those who are waiting for their new Elise to arrive and want to get a little advance start on tube-rolling, and those new owners who are looking for helpful suggestions. 

 

[pctazhp]

In the interest of peace and love 

 

 

[Oskari]

I've always liked this track. And I still do!


[VIDEO]https://youtu.be/zTM69cXUXUQ[/VIDEO]

 

[Oskari]

And that reminds me of this:


[VIDEO]https://youtu.be/pHCwLA_nOvI[/VIDEO]

 

[UntilThen]

  @JazzVinyl. I know I should just keep out of this. But I'm a lawyer and I guess it is just not in my dna to shut-up when I should!!!
 
I have said many times that my own personal preference is to avoid external power. But there was a time when I was very tempted to order the Triad transformer, the 6 X 6BL7 adapter and a 3rd pair of 6BL7s. What stopped me was the intensity of your opposition to EL3Ns. That was totally at variance with my own experience with the EL3Ns, and I just didn't want to go to the expense and time to follow your recommendation of the 6 X 6BL7s as we seemed to be coming from such different places. And you personal attacks on @hypnos1 didn't help. None of us would be here were if not for him, and I think he (along with every other member of this thread) deserves respect.
 
I wish we could all just realize that each of us have different experiences with tubes and headphones, describe our own experiences and respect the experience of others.
 
There is one thing that bonds us all together - the Elise amp. We often like to describe ourselves as "the lucky ones" and indeed we are. I fear that our internal bickering may turn off others who visit this thread and decide that Elise is not for them. I think we do those people a disservice.
 
I'm sure I have been guilty of stirring the pot, and I'm going to try to avoid that in the future. I truly believe the most important people here are the visitors who are considering an Elise, those who are waiting for their new Elise to arrive and want to get a little advance start on tube-rolling, and those new owners who are looking for helpful suggestions. 

I totally agree with this. Show some respect for @hypnos1 as the starter of this thread and the person responsible for bringing Elise to us.
I will not stand by and see anyone slug his name that is for sure.

 

[connieflyer]

@Hypnos1 had quite a vision, and the energy and fore sight to see what could be done, if not available to seek it out.  I for one, am very grateful for his pioneering efforts and for Lukasz and his father to take up the challenge and they worked together, and we have reaped what was sowed. This is an amazing amp, it is sleek, it is discrete, it is simple in design, yet sophisticated in it's execution, nothing extra, nothing to distract from the simple beauty of a piece of equipment, so well thought out and brought to market at a very fair price.   And then another thank you for all who have tried a tube here a different one there, the what if's that went through their minds trying to make a really good amp even better.  The stock amp is great, the additional tubes and adapters, have made this something to enjoy, as well as a hobby of sorts.  It has not only built a great product, but also brought people together from all over the globe, from all disciplines to form a community that we all enjoy.  All you have to do, is look at the page count, and look back at the start date, and know that this is more than just a sum of it's parts.  Thank you all,  Don

 

[DecentLevi]

Hello guys, I got the two dual EL3N adapters today and only 1 of each pair are getting heat. I first noticed this by standing over it and seeing only two out of the four tubes in the power's seat lighting up. Surprisingly there is still sound, but it does seem quite similar to the quad El3N setup.
 
Here you can see only the two outer tubes are lighting up

 
 
Then after swapping the dual adapters R/L, now the problem is inversed with the two inner tubes lighting up instead

 
Obviously the EL3N's are working, so it would somehow seem a problem with the adapter or the Elise. I did check and the label on these dual adapters and it certainly does say dual EL3N to 6SN7. Also the volume is breaking up quite early on my HD 650's with this. So off it goes for now! 

This sound like a question for @mordy or @hpamdr possibly...

 

[connieflyer]

Mine work as all tubes glow nicely, sorry to hear this

 

[DecentLevi]

EDIT: reversing the order didn't cause different tubes to light up, but just changed the orientation of the same problem. And oddly, when tapping the tubes I heard microphonics from even the ones that were not lit as well, leading me to believe the tubes are all connected, but just not all getting heat - wonder if that's any good?

 

[DecentLevi]

Upon closer look, it seems the two 'black' tubes are very loose in their adapter socket, then after removing those it appears the slots in the adapters had been inverted too far from when I was trying to pry those SOB's in to that helluva tight fit. So looks like I've gotta spend a few hours playing around with inserting metal pieces in the adapters to fill the gap, as I had already done on another adapter.
 
But from what I'm hearing so far - holy mother of God, the Dual El3N + quad 6BL7 is by far the best sound yet! It sounds more vivid and detailed than the El3N + quad 6J5, which is a milestone! I'd be surprised if the 6El3N could really outdo this too much 

. But the downside is that my quad 6BL7 are the loudest of all so I'm having to cut that with an external volume limiter until a better solution is found for my 2-prong outlet room
 
 
where the heck is Mr Humphrey when you need him?

 

[DecentLevi]

Any minors around don't look. Sorry but there's only one word I can think of to describe the sound I'm hearing from this dual El3N + quad GE 6BL7: pornographic! 

 
EARGASMS NONSTOP! I'VE NEVER HEARD MUSIC LIKE THIS AT HOME BEFORE IN MY 37-YEAR LIFE. My friends this setup has taken me DEEEEEP into summit-fi territory, and making me think at how lowly 95% of all the rigs I've ever tried at Can Jam's sound in comparison!!!

 

[DecentLevi]

Well guys, I've tried a Loony amount of Tune combinations (or should I say Tubes, LOL), and I've found what I'm confident will be my best ever for the Elise... but wait, back up a second...
 
I fixed the sixtet EL3N setup: had to insert 4 wires between the contacts on one, and two on the other dual adapter to fill the electrical contact gaps.
 
Here are my initial impressions after several hours:
 

Drivers​	Powers​	ranking​	comments​
EL3N	2x 6BL7 + 2x 6SN7	4​	Volume imbalance, each channel has own signature
C3G	quad EL3N	5.5​	something is amiss and volume breaks up
C3G	quad 6SN7 (v2)	6​	bright, clear, snappy, lacking in weight
EL3N​	quad EL3N​	6.5​	B est stage but slow PRaT, overall darker than neutral. volume breaks up​
EL3N​	quad 6SN7 (v1)​	8​	sweet, tonally correct, good dynamics​
EL3N​	quad 6J5 (straight)​	8​	airy, pleasing, almost perfect​
C3G	quad 6BL7	8.5​	sweet, clear, crisp, good impace, good tonality but lacking in weight
EL3N​	quad 6BL7 GE​	9​	vivid, lush, engaging, good dynamics​
EL3N​	quad 6SN7 (v2)​	9.2​	vibrant, tonally correct, perfect FR + extension​
EL3N	2x 6BL7 + 2x 6SN7 intermixed	9.5​	sweet, perfect tonality, vividness, clarity, dynamics, lushness, extension

 
Do note my impressions may change over time / burn-in etc., and no UntilThen I didn't do this to spite you, and actually much of this was thanks to you! We just all hear things a little differently 

 

 

[richdytch]

I'm currently about 50 hours into burn in with the stock tubes. Got el3n, adapters and some Mullard 6080 on the way. They were cheap so will satiate my immediate appetite to try some alternative drivers. Still need to research where to get Chathams, exactly what I'm looking for, etc. But there's no rush.

I have noticed something slightly odd as the stock tubes have burned in... The amp occasionally emits a 'note' which sounds like a string being plucked. It has a sudden attack and decays over about 3 seconds ... a very soft sound. It's quite obviously based on mains frequency. Once the tubes are warmed up it seems to happen between every 10 seconds and once a minute. Very odd. It's generally fairly quiet and rarely interferes with the music I'm listening to, although when the amp has been switched on for several hours it does increase in volume. I could actually hear it over a very quiet passage of music the other night. To my non electronic brain it sounds like something symptomatic of a charge being built up and discharged in a capacitor... although that clumsy conjecture is the limit of my electronics knowledge.

I tried some 1954 RCA 6sn7gt bottom getter tubes in place of the stock Tung Sols and the sound didn't occur, although I didn't leave them in long enough to know whether it has really been eradicated.

*edit* - I should point out that this sound only occurs when using the elise as a preamp, through my speakers... It doesn't occur in headphones.

Has anyone else encountered this phenomenon?

Rich

 

[Kon Peki]

Not "everyone" thinks the EL3N "sounds Lovely".

I am not a fan, and I know of others who also do not agree, that they are gods gift to sound quality.

YMMV

 

   
Afraid I would take Glenn's opinion over anyone else's , lol!..

...

 

Afraid you didn't take his opinion of multiple 6BL7's bettering 6AS7G, did you?

 
 

   
Please JV...you're not doing yourself any favours here alas...

 

  I feel a little sorry for newbies who are waiting for their Elises or contemplating a purchase. They see some pretty intense disagreement on this thread about tubes and headphones.
 
...
 
I don't want to denigrate the experience of anyone else here whose experience may be at variance with mine. At the same time, I would be pretty confident in advising new owners that I don't think they will be disappointed if they end up where I am.

 

 
It's too bad you can't hear the good sonics of EL3N. 

 

  ...
 
I wish we could all just realize that each of us have different experiences with tubes and headphones, describe our own experiences and respect the experience of others.
 
There is one thing that bonds us all together - the Elise amp. We often like to describe ourselves as "the lucky ones" and indeed we are. I fear that our internal bickering may turn off others who visit this thread and decide that Elise is not for them. I think we do those people a disservice...

 
 
As someone new to Elise and this thread, the one thing I find off-putting is that it seems like when one person doesn't like something that everyone else is hyped about, their opinion gets disrespected.  JV doesn't like EL3N.  So what?  Why challenge that or imply that he or she has bad hearing?  This stuff is subjective anyway.  I personally found it useful to know that not everyone thinks EL3N sound great.
 
Maybe this is all just about some earlier bickering in the thread carrying over rather than a general intolerance to negative opinions, but it comes across as the latter.